I chewed on my bottom lip, shook my head. Z.A. had spoken to me—yes, that was right. Oh, good glory. She’d taken over.
Wincing, he sat up. He didn’t meet my gaze as he said, “Your eyes went red, Ali, just like the zombies. The creatures arrived and ignored you, treating you as if you were one of their own. You burned the trees and—”
I gasped. “I burned the trees?”
“You touched them with the red flames, and the leaves instantly withered.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and they stung, as if they had been fermenting, ready to spring for weeks, but I hadn’t let them. “Did I do anything to you?” Was I responsible for any of the damage?
He fingered the gash in his cheek. “Something’s going on with you, Ali,” he said, ignoring my question.
I had. I’d hurt him.
“Yes,” I whispered. I couldn’t keep quiet anymore, whatever the consequences were for speaking out. I’d known I was a danger but hadn’t taken enough precautions to protect my friends. “Mr. Ankh told me my blood work was fine, but, Cole, that can’t be true. I’m filled with zombie toxin. It’s there, inside me, and it’s alive. A part of me. A new part. I’ve seen her—heard her.”
I waited for hatred to gleam in his eyes.
I waited for a savage rage to be unleashed.
He had to kill me now. I was the enemy.
“What else?” he asked.
I blinked, confused. “Urges come, dark urges, and I find myself giving in. I never would have believed it unless—”
“What the hell happened?” Gavin demanded, cutting me off with his arrival.
I looked over in time to see him and Veronica stalk past the trees I’d burned. Z.A. might have done it, but she’d used my hands. The realization still flayed me.
The pair was as battle-wounded and dirty as Cole.
Cole reached out, squeezed my wrist. “I don’t want you to say another word about this,” he whispered.
He didn’t plan to tell the others? Why? To protect me? Maybe. What would happen if the slayers learned what I’d done to him? I’d be thrown out, no question. And they’d be smart to do it.
He lumbered to his feet, dragging me with him. “Let’s get back to the barn,” he said.
“Cole!” Veronica rushed to his side and cradled his battered face, tilting his head from one side to the other to study his injuries. “Sugar, you look like you’ve been mauled by a bear. Are you okay?”
Sugar.
“I’m fine.” Clearly uncomfortable, he set Veronica away from him.
I was too wrung out to feel jealousy just then. Or anguish. Or longing. Yeah. Way too wrung out.
I swiped at the sting in my eyes with the back of my hand.
She tossed me a glare meant to slay me on the spot. “I thought you had special powers or something like that. You should have protected him.”
“Yes,” I said sadly, “I should have.”
Gavin wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a surprising show of support, and I leaned against him. I was getting more and more comfortable with contact with him—and I wouldn’t let myself think about what that meant. It wasn’t romantic, I told myself, and that was all that mattered. “Catfight round two can wait. Cole’s right. We need to get back to the barn.”
Cole stepped toward us, the menace I’d expected earlier now radiating from him. His gaze moved from Gavin to me, then to Gavin again. He looked 100 percent capable of murder. Then he stopped himself and spun away.
So badly I wanted to follow him, to catch up to him. It was utter anguish denying myself—fine, I was feeling it—but I couldn’t risk another fight with him. Besides, I had a spy to catch.
He led the way through the forest, Veronica staying close to his heels. Along the way, we met up with Frosty and Justin, and I did some mental measuring. They were both about the size of the spy I’d seen. But then, so was Lucas. And Gavin.